For details on prize pool contributions, check out the Prize Pool section at the end of this post. Thanks!

Introduction
Red Alert Global League (RAGL), Season 6 is played out over up to 10 weeks from October 15th till December 23rd, 2018. This timespan includes 8 weeks for the group stage and 2 weeks reserved for unforeseen delays and Masters division playoffs.

The group stage is held in a round robin format, where each player is to play a match against every opponent in his group. There will be a maximum of 16 players for every group. The match consists of 2 games, and game wins are added to a score table. Matches are tacked on to weeks/rounds, in which players have to play their match-ups against a specific opponent. New in Season 6: there will be 2 rounds scheduled for every week, so each player will have to play two matches per week.
At the end of the season the top 4 players in Masters will face off in a best of 5 playoffs. The results of the playoff series and final standings for those outside the playoffs decides who wins prizes and titles as well as promotions, qualifiers and relegation towards other divisions.

Official communications between the players and with league officials are primarily done through email, involving reporting results and various league business. However, a Discord is being implemented as an alternative means.

For Season 6, all recurring players have until October 7th (23:59 UTC+0) to confirm their participation. Players transferring over from a previous season don't have to provide any other information than the expressed confirmation. Recurring players simply register with an email titled CONFIRMATION.

Recurring players are seeded per guidelines provided by the previous season results. Players who feel like they've found themselves in a division above their skill level may request to be dropped a division lower to better accommodate them. If the league officials can find another player who's ability more closely matches that division in skill, that player will be granted a promotion into that league. New players will be evaluated by league officials and placed in a division that best matches their skill, based of availability of the divisions.

New for Season 6: Recruits tier is removed from the league, replaced by a 1-day qualification tournament. Vacant spots in Minions tier will be occupied by players participating in this tournament in order of performance. All new players and players that didn’t finish Season 5 Recruits are eligible for qualification. See additional info on registrations and qualifications in the relevant thread. Qualification tournament is likely to be held on October 12th (Saturday).

In case there are enough vacant slots in Minions, qualification tournament is not held; all eligible players are promoted to Minions directly.

All players eligible for qualification tournament have until October 10th (23:59 UTC+0) to send the registration info.

It is strongly recommended that players prioritize an active email account in order to reduce response time with messages from players or league officials.
Registration emails from new players are titled REGISTRATION and must include the following:

OpenRA discord name and forums name (both optional, but highly recommended)

Waiting list
In the event of players forfeiting the Minions division during first two weeks for any reasons vacant slots may be re-occupied. Waiting list is composed of players failing to qualify through pre-season qualification tournament and late signups that have missed the qualification tournament (or when the tournament didn't take place), in order of performance in qualification tournament and then by enlisting datetime.

Any matches that were scheduled to be played before the player promotion from waiting list takes place are to be played out of order until the end of the group stage (same rules as player-delayed matches).

Emails: Contact & Match Scheduling
All participating players are themselves responsible for their weekly matches. Players have provided active email addresses as a means of guaranteed contact availability and email correspondence is the official recognized means of which players schedule their match-ups, report delays, disputes and failed contact. However, at the discretion of the players, any venue of contact can be used as long as you recognize that league officials will be of limited help should things go awry. League officials cannot guarantee or take responsibility for information processed outside email correspondences. Email lists are provided to all players within their respective divisions by Monday, October 1th. Email lists are not publicized beyond the division.

As a general tip, be first out early on with a simple 'Hello' and provide information to when it suits you best to play. Initiate contact at the start of the week/round (Monday), or perhaps even the day before.

Note: as all players are currently present in Discord, any technical message mentioned in the rulebook (results report, delays notice, failed contact notice, misc) is also possible through private messaging or the private technical channels made per each division on official Discord server . Be sure to mention the officials in the message so that it doesn't get unnoticed and lost! Mentioning your opponent is also preferable, especially regarding delays and failed contacts.

Emails: Delay Notices
The unforeseen will happen and so you might as well learn this procedure well (as with 'Emails: Failed Contact' below). In the event you need to delay a match-up for any reason you will have to send a delay notice per email (titled DELAY) to both your opponent and the league officials. The player doesn't need to give up a reason for the delay. The reasons for the delay are not publicized should the player wish to give one. The delay notice will be available on RAGL Scoreboard until the delayed match-ups have been played. New in season 6: Delay notice automatically delays the match up to the last group stage week. Notice that there are no delay weeks this season!

The delay notice must include at minimum:

The week/round and match-up that is delayed.

Further:

Delay notices must be sent no later than the next week's Monday at 23:59 UTC+0.

Players can have up to 3 delay notices running simultaneously.

Worth noting, the league has no rules regarding matches being played before their designated rounds. If you foresee some scheduled conflict there's nothing to stop you from attempting getting some match-ups done earlier.

Emails: Failed Contact
An opponent may fail to respond or contact properly during a week/round. The moment you suspect your match-up may be in jeopardy you should send a 'Failed Contact' notice per email (titled FAILED CONTACT) as soon as possible. This notice is overridden immediately if you follow up later that same week with a Result Report or a Delay Notice. The 'Failed Contact' notice also protects you from unfair penalties granted by league officials due to unreported matches. If, for whatever reason, a failed contact notice is sent by both players before the end of the week/round, the event is converted into a delay notice.Note: ‘Failed Contact’ notice should be send both to official email and to the opponent so that he is informed about it. Provide evidence of your contact attempts in the email body. Failed Contact may only be accepted no later than Sunday 23:59 UTC+0 of the respective match week; this is imposed to allow the other party time to respond on the notice. Any ‘Failed Contact’ notices received after this deadline will be processed explicitly and most of the times converted into a ‘Delay’ notice.

Any unreported matches without a Delay or Failed Contact notice are rewarded with a strike. 3 strikes results in a Season Forfeit.

New in season 6: unreported matches that resulted in strikes for both players are still eligible to be played on the later date before the end of the group stage. Strikes received this way will still stay active.

For further information on strikes please see: League tables: Placements and tie-breakers

Promotions/demotions
Due to the nature of the league, promotions often can't be defined until the exact set up is figured out. The top players in Minions will be promoted to the next division. The bottom players in Masters will be relegated to one below. The bottom players in Minions will be relegated from division and be forced to play through the next season’s qualification tournament. The exact promotion/relegation bracket is finalized when the season is started.

Season Forfeit
There's no reason having to be disgracefully booted out of the league just because you find yourself unable to fulfill your obligations.

Season Forfeit is sent per email (titled SEASON FORFEIT) in order to forfeit the current season, immediately placing you last in your division. Naturally you'll be relegated down one division and will be able to participate next season from that particular division.

Waiting List
The RAGL waiting list is a measure to ensure Minions division is filled as much as possible. Should a season start and a player strike out (not show up for their first three matches) or a player forfeit the season, that player will be dropped and the first in line on the waiting list will replace that player. Waiting list is made up by players who participated in qualification tournament but failed to get into Minions initially.

Disconnects during a game
Players decide between themselves the outcome of a disconnected game. If the players cannot come to an agreement, they will have to submit the replay to the official (titled DISCONNECT) for evaluation. The evaluation will likely demand a re-play unless the game is undoubtedly decided towards one player. The final word will be up the the official evaluating regardless. Players who disconnect more than 3 times during a season will forfeit the match points of their remaining disconnected games regardless of the state of the ongoing game.

Disputes
Disputes are sent per email (titled DISPUTE or CORRECTION) to a league official in the event it is believed the officials has handled a situation incorrectly or has recorded erroneous information. The league officials reserves the right to make the final call in disputed situations with the health of the league in mind.

Game setup
Players ranked higher during the season are to 'host' the map first. The second player will then pick their faction. Players are allowed their own discretion in following this rule. In the event of two players being equal in the standings players are again encouraged to use their discretion in who picks a map/faction first. For the second game in the series, the role will be reversed.
The standard game settings in the game lobby should be familiar to all players. These will be used consistently across all divisions:

Explored Map: On

Crates: Off

Short Game : On

Fog of War : On

Build off Allies: (irrelevant)

Limit Build Area: On

Separate Team Spawns: (irrelevant)

Redeployable MCVs: On

Kill Bounties: On

Debug Menu : Off

Starting Cash : $5000

Tech Level : Unrestricted

Starting Units : MCV Only

Game Speed : Normal

Player spots must be random.

The league will by default always run on the latest release. In the event a new release is shipped during an ongoing season, both releases are acceptable for that given week/round of the new release date. Exploiting bugs during a match on a playtest disqualifies the match played.

Playoffs/Tie-breaker Game Setup
Playoffs and tie-breakers will use the same game settings as above, with the exception that the first map is randomly chosen and provided by officials prior to the game.

Use of software macrosAs per pre-season discussions, it is decided that the use of external software macros (programmed keypress sequences of commands, i.e. ordering units automation) is an unsportsmanlike conduct and will be forbidden from Season 6 onwards. More obvious automation scripts resulting in APM spikes are detectable by replay parsing tools, other suspicious behaviours might be up for scrutiny by officials. Positive confirmation of using external tools to gain game advantage will impose a strict ruling, up to the straight ban from the league.

League tables: Placements and tie-breakers
Players are ranked within each division based on match points. In the event of tied points at the end of the season, the players will be ranked against each other based on:

Result from the players' current seasons' match-up.

1 game rematch

Meaning the match-up between players will primarily decide the ranking. In the event this match-up went 1-1 (or the match failed to report) then a 1 game rematch will be required. In the event of multiple ties a best of 1 round robin may be required.

Strikes can be given out for a a number of different reasons, failure to report a match, cheating, etc. 3 strikes results in a Season Forfeit. New in season 6: unreported matches that resulted in strikes for both players are still eligible to be played on the later date before the end of the group stage. Strikes received this way will still stay active.

Playoff Format
The top 4 Masters players will face each other in the playoffs, deciding the prize spots. 1st placed in group playing 4th, 2nd playing 3rd, and then winners will play for the Masters Championship, while the losers play for 3rd place.
In case Minions division is split into 2 groups, Minions Playoff match is played between players finishing 1st in their respective groups to decide the Minions championship and the prize spot.

Replay files: Renaming and Uploading
Replay files are the sole documentation of the matches played and thus should be treated with great care. The host player bears the responsibility to have the file uploaded. Upon agreement the guest player or spectator can upload the replay file.

The replay files will have to be renamed specifically before uploading. In your folder or your replay viewer, delete the ENTIRE filename and replace it with:

RAGL-S06-[MASTER/MINION]-[RXX/POXX]-[player initials]-[other player initials]-[G1,G2,G3,G4,G5], all letters in CAPS.

Example: In Season 1, SoScared played 2 matches against PersianImmortal, and the players agreed for SoScared to upload them both. They both play in the Minions' A Division. The matches was played on 25th of April 2016 which, according to the schedule table, coincides with 'Round 04'. The players' given initials are SOS for SoScared and PSI for PersianImmortal. The replay files for these matches would be:

Replay files not properly renamed will not be accepted. We understand that naming and uploading replays are a pain and are still looking into a nice and function automated system. In the mean time we will be cracking down on improperly named replays.

All replays are uploaded to Jazz_KCS's file server: http://64hdb.mine.nu:5534/mIRROR/ora_re ... eason_six/ In the correct Round and Division sub-folder, click the 'Upload files' link on the right side of the page. You'll have to rename the replay file before uploading. If the replay is uploaded erroneously, re-upload the correct file and notify the tournament official so that the wrong file can be removed.

Emails: Reporting Results
After the replay files are uploaded the results are reported per email (titled RESULTS). The report needs to include who won the matches. As with replay files the host player is ultimately responsible for reporting the results but practically it is sufficient for one of the players in a match-up to report the results. The results can be shared with a league official through any means but as stated earlier, league officials cannot guarantee a fair count of your match points without the Result Report by email. Note: incorrectly naming the replay files or failing to properly report the match may result in strikes to both players, so please pay attention to this procedure.

Streaming and casting
The Red Alert Global League has a stream channel dedicated to RAGL streams and can be utilized by verified streamers. However, streamers of the event will need to add a minimum of 3 minute delay to their streams when covering an official Live league match. For this season in particular, the league will attempt to highlight a match up each week to be streamed.

Prize pool contributions
For those interested, a personal email account, OpenRA.RAGL@Gmail.com is connected via PayPal to host the prize pool contributions. Just send a payment through PayPal to that email address via PayPal and in the 'Write a note' section either write your playername/name or state if you wish to remain anonymous given that all individual contributions will be listed in this post under 'Current Prize Pool'. Further you can add a request as to how you would want your contribution to be paid to the league positions specifically (including all divisions).
By default the prizepool is split as follows (estimate, final shares might differ due to resulting prize pool and rounding the values):

36% Masters Champion

18% Masters 2nd

13% Masters 3rd

11% Masters 4th

10% Minions Champion

12% season finisher prizes (see below)

New in season 6: share of the prize pool will be given out to 3 players randomly chosen among those who successfully finished the season (Masters or Minions), did not accumulate strikes and got outside the prize spots.

PayPal contributions are converted into Dollars ($), if you send money in your local currency the prizepool host will cover the conversion fees. Future seasons may convert the prizepool in Euros (€).

*Prizepools are completely voluntary and are not expected to be significant each season. IF the prize pool for a particular season is thin the exact spread and rewards will be carefully considered. (No one wants to win 5 cents as a random prize!)

League officials reserve the rights to alter or override the rulebook during an ongoing season. All players will be immediately notified if any substantial changes are made during the season. For all inquiries you can contact us at OpenRA.RAGL@Gmail.com or reply on this thread.

Discussion and feedback on the rulebook Season 6 is also encouraged below.

Last edited by netnazgul on Mon Dec 24, 2018 9:20 am, edited 25 times in total.

Game map picking stays largely the same as in previous seasons, with each player picking the map to his liking. Other matchup options were considered, but this one is the most simple+fair solution; random and fixed will introduce luck factor, other processes like TDGL way is a bit too technical in this way.

I'm not going to argue, but hear this:
Fixed maps, obviously with a weekly rotation, should produce more interesting games. Why? Each player knows the upcoming maps, and can prepare a strat according to map and opponent. The prep factor should be higher than in picked maps format, raising the game quality. Also, games will be more diverse - showing each map and finding the best playstyle per map as opposed to the playstyle the player is most comfortable with (case picks).
Idk about playoffs, but the group stage is long enough to cancel out the "luck" involved with map*opponent.
Cheers

There are some debates regarding whether to have bounties on or off for the rules. Currently the decision is to keep kill bounties on, but if there is a major opinion to set them off, changing the rule might be considered.